ARTICLE - HERITAGE CONSERVATION

HAITIAN HERITAGE CONSERVATION CENTER ENTERS PHASE II
(Defend Haiti) -

PORT-AU-PRINCE - With over 32,000 cultural effects saved, the rescue of Haitian cultural heritage, launched a year ago by the State of Haiti in partnership with the Smithsonian Museum (D.C.), will enter its second phase on Friday to establish a conservation center.

According to former Minister of Culture Olsen Jean Julien, the program has saved cultural property damaged by the earthquake of January 12, 2010, and has trained 100 Haitians to be specialists in the maintenance and repair of cultural property in the country.

In the second phase, a national registry of Haitian cultural property will be employed to keep records of the over $3.5 million U.S. dollars worth of preservation spent in the first phase.

The UNESCO Special Envoy for Haiti, Michaëlle Jean, for her part, reaffirmed on Friday the commitment of the UN agency to assist in the establishment of a strong cultural policy in Haiti. As such, Jean emphasized the role that culture can play in the process of reconstruction and economic development of Haiti.

UNESCO is therefore committed to support the Ministry of Culture and Communication, which should have the means to achieve the desired policy, informed the Special Envoy,.... at a working meeting with Minister of Haiti Communication and Culture Pierre Raymond Dumas.

The Haiti Cultural Recovery Project was announced in 2010 by the Haitian Ministry of Culture and Communication, the Haitian President's Commission for Reconstruction, the U.S. President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the Smithsonian Institution, and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization.